Air conditioned garment



Aug. 29, 1939.

.1. HELLMANN (ET AL AIR counmouno GARMENT Filed Oct. 17, 1938 ATTORNEY;

Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR CONDITIONED GARMENT Application October 17, 1938, Serial No. 235,386

2 Claims. (01. 128-144) This invention relates to air conditioned garments and more particularly to garments intended to be used by furnace tenders, firemen or others who operate close to heat or fire.

One of the objects of the present invention s to provide a garment of fire-proof and sem1- pervious fabric which may be fed with cool and fresh air so as to entirely surround the user with an envelope of cool and fresh air within said 1. garment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment with means to feed and distribute a stream of clean and coolv air to the various portions of the body of the wearer.

ll Still another object of the invention is to provide a garment of semi-airtight fabric with a metallic distributor by means of which fresh and cool air may be fed to the wearer for breathing and cooling purposes.

so A futher object of the invention is to provide a garment with a metallic distributor which is made in two parts and hingedly connected together.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which may be readily and comfortablyg5 worn by a person in discharge of his duty, and which will not hamper his movements in the least.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a device of the class set forth which is simple in its construction and arrangements, durable and so efllcient in its use, readily worn, and inexpensive to manufacture.

To the accomplishment of these and such other objects as may hereafter appear the invention consists of the novel construction, combination 3 and arrangement of parts herein specifically de-,

scribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown an embodiment of the in vention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to a which come within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

5 Figure 1 is a front view of the complete garment spread open to show the air distributor secured to the interior of the garment.

Figure 2 represents the garment as it appears when worn by an operator.

Figure 3 is a rear view of Figure 1 showing how part of the upper portion of the air distributor protrudes through the garment; it also shows the air inlet hose by means of which fresh air is supplied to the user.

a Figure 4 is an enlarged front view of the hingedly connected upper and lower portions of the air distributor.

Figure 5 is a side view of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a sectional enlarged view along line 86 in Figure 5 showing how the upper and lower portions of the air distributor are hinged together.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Figure 1, there is shown a front view of an air conditioned garment ill, in accordance with our invention, preferably made of fire-proof fabric, such as for instance asbestos cloth, or any other suitable material. This garment is arranged to be inflated with air so as to completely surround the user, but it is desirable that the fabric be sufiiicently porous to permit a certain quantity to escape through the fabric.

Fresh air is forced through a flexible hose II by means of a fan (not shown) or any other suitable device and through a distributor l2, which is preferably made in two parts, the lower portion l3 and the upper portion it, both produced of light weight material such as aluminum or any other metal suitable for the purpose.

The aforesaid garment I is preferably made in the form of a union suit (one piece) provided at the front with a vertical seam l which may be closed and opened by means of a mechanical lacing l6, commonly known as a zipper.

The hood II, which slips over a steel helmet l8, usually worn for head protection, extends downwardly, as indicated by the numeral I9 and is secured at the back of the garment to the shoulder end 20 but the front is removably attached to the garment by means of the mechanical lacings 2| and 22.

In front of the eyes of the wearer is a window 23 of mica or other fire resisting material through which the operator may see. The gloves 24, 25 as well as the shoes 26, 21 are preferably made in one piece with the garment.

Secured to the inside of the back part of the garment, in a manner as shown in Figure 1, is the air distributor I2 by means of which fresh air is distributed to the various portions of the body, and referring now to Figures 4, 5 and 6 the said air distributor l2 consists of a hollow lower portion i3, curved inwardly, so as to conform to approximately the shape of the back of the waist of the user. Substantially midway along the upper edge 28 of said lower portion i3 is a vertically disposed conduit 29, preferably formed integrally with said lower portion l3, over which loosely slips the depending conduit 3|] of the hollow upper portion ll of distributor I2.

The aiomaid depending conduit to branches out at the top into a pair of oppositely directed conduits Ii and 32, each of which has a slightly reduced tapered connecting sleeve 33 and 34 respectively adapted to connect thereon a short piece of flesible discharge hose II and 36 respectively. At' the meeting joint 31 of said conduits ll and 32 is an upright nozzle outlet 3. which is intended to supply a stream otfresh air to the head of the body of the user, whereas the terminals of said flexible hose I! and 36 are intended to furnish a stream of air to the arms a and 44.

In order to permit stooping or bending the body of the operator forward, the uppermost end of conduit 2O lower portion it of said distributor I2 is inserted into the depending conduit 34 oi upper portion l4 of distributor i2 and hingedly connected thereto by means of oppositely disposed pins or screws 4! and 42 as shown in Figure 6.

As best shown in Figures 4 and the lower portion I! of distributor I 2 is provided with a pair of oppositely directed outlets 43 and 44 which are bent inwardly so as to direct the flow oi the air to the front of the waist of the operator.

A pair of oppositely directed outlets 45 and 48 at the bottom of said lower portion l3 of distributor I2 are directed downwardly and intended to supply fresh air to the legs of the operator.

Fresh air is conveyed to the'operator from a fan (not shown) or a tank containing air (not shown) to the distributor I! by means of said flexible hose II which is properly attached to a flanged sleeve 41 which penetrates through the back of the garment in a manner as shown in Figures 3 and 5 of the drawing.

As will be best seen in Figure 3, the major part oi the upper portion I4 of distributor I2 is fastened at the outside of the back part of the garment but the flexible hoses 35 and 36 are introduced into the interior of the sleeves 50 and BI through slits 48 and 49, respectively, of the garment. The nozzle outlet 38 is introduced into the interior of the hood l'l through a slit 52 as shown in Figure 3.

The reason for attaching the upper portion [4 or the distributor I! to the outside of the garment is to avoid undesirable pressure of the metallic distributor against the back of the operator.

It will be seen, that the improved garment is so arranged, that the head, arms, chest and the legs receive a continuous stream of fresh air actingasacooling mediumwhentheoperator has to work in a hot place.

Inusingthisdevicethetruhairentersirom a source or supply (not shown) through said flexiblehose ll andpasses outthroughthe outlets I5, I, II, 43, 44, 48 and 4|.

Itwillbeobviousthatitisnotnecessaryto provide air, exhaust ports for this device for the reason that the fabric out a! which the garment istobemadeissui'iidentlyporoustopermita certain volume or air to acape out or the garment at all times without impairing the eiiiciency of the device as a (rah air supply.

From the foregoing dacription, taken in connection with the drawing, it will be seen that our invention provides a garment of the character set forth which is simple in construction and designed to carry out the objects 0! the invention in a reliable and eiiicient manner. It will, of course, be understood that while the construction disclosed is preferred, changes for and within the scope of the appended claims may be' made without departing from the spirit or or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a device of the class described. the combination of a garment in the form of a union suit including a separable hood adapted to completely inclose the body 01' the wearer; an air supply and means to distribute the air from said air supply within said garment, said distributing means comprising a two piece hollow body hingedly connected together and provided with a plurality of difierently directed air outlets, one

piece of said hollow body secured to the inner back of said garment and the other piece secured to the outer back of said garment.

2. In a device of the clas described, the combination of a garment in the form of a union the outer back of said garment, all of said plurality of air outlets 01' said air distributing means terminating within the interior of said garment.

JOHN HELIMANN. ERNET L. KEYES. JOSEPH A. PETRONE. 

